Edible Book Display 2008

Edible Book Display 2008
Originally uploaded by marian_library_indy

Did you miss the 2nd annual Edible Book Display presented during National Library Week 2008?

You can now view the display online - just click on the image above and visit the exhibit virtually through Flickr. Start planning now for the contest next April - we'd love to see what you can create. The only limit is your own imagination.

New and Leisurely Reading @Your Library -- and a book review, too!

Great news -- more than two dozen new titles have been added to the Leisure Reading Collection since last we posted.


Here are but a few of the newest titles:

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living, by Doug Fine
The House at Riverton, by Kate Morton
Armageddon in Retrospect, by Kurt Vonnegut
Certain Girls, by Jennifer Weiner
Unlocked: A Journey from Prison to Proust, by Louis Ferrante
Quicksand, by Iris Johansen

And, if that is not enough, our own Edward Mandity (Information and Instructional Technology Librarian) has written a review of another Leisure Reading Collection offering, The Somnambulist, by Jonathan Barnes.

Give it up for Eddie's review...

The Somnambulist: A bizarre, not so modern mystery

Edward Moon is a "conjurer", an entertainer struggling to preserve what little reputation and income he has left. Among polite society he is now more likely considered a laughingstock than the once promising investigator propelled by his sharpened abilities of examination. Considered past his prime, his Las Vegas-styled evening show, set in Victorian era London, is now only attracting the fanatically faithful. So Moon, along with the Somnambulist, his giant, deathly pale, almost human-like partner in crime-solving and fright inducing sidekick, is bored. Yet that is about to change.

As far as crime solving duos go could this very well be the Victorian era predecessor to our modern day Starsky and Hutch? As far as mysteries go, probably not so much, as Sherlock and Watson might have proven a more apt comparison. At least Watson talked. The Somnambulist, on the other hand, doesn't; he would rather accompany Moon silently grasping his pints of milk.

If such a bizarre introduction to The Somnambulist intrigues you, then by all means delve deeper than the surface just scratched, as this book by Jonathan Barnes turns more curious by the page. But it is as entertaining as it is strange; Moon is as stubbornly cynical, full of snark as he is determined to solve what is the most important threat facing London. And the Somnambulist is, well, the Somnambulist. But will that threat be The Directorate, an assassin known only as The Mongoose, the fun-loving Prefects, or the very literary Chairman itself? Full of intrigue, murder, and curiosity, this story is all wrapped up into a very sharply-written novel. It's dark, creepy, and humorously suspenseful. And it's only the first novel written by Barnes.


Give yourself a break during the hectic, end-of-semester crush and stop by to check out the Leisure Reading Collection. You'll find it on the second floor of the library, on the north wall. We can't let Eddie have all the fun -- or all the books!

Read on...

Adjusted hours for Finals Week 2008

Hackelmeier Memorial Library
Adjusted Hours
May 3 - 9

Friday, May 2 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 3 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 4 2:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Monday, May 5 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Tuesday, May 6 7:30 a.m. – Midnight
Wednesday, May 7 7:30 a.m. – Midnight

Thursday, May 8 7:30 - 3:00 p.m. (Research assistance on 2nd floor)

Friday, May 9 7:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Relaxation Zone - 1^st floor Hackelmeier Library

May 4 - 9

April 2 Student Focus Group Session

Focus group student session – 04/02/2008
2 students present

How do you use the library?
- working (library work study)
- hold study sessions for class (Soc. TA)
- general studying
- use the computers (programs not on own computer, faster, printing, etc.)

How do you see your information needs changing?
- database use increases over course of college career
- more interest in learning to use SmartBoards, other technology earlier in college career



What will you need from the library/instructional technology in the next 5 years?
- integrate some sort of library component into Freshman Experience course, so that students have a better idea of what is available to them in the library
- instruction on how to use technology (digital cameras), transfer files, create projects/presentations integrating technology

(discussion about finding ways to better integrate library and instructional services into the curriculum; students would welcome more information about what is available to them)

What new technology would you like to see incorporated into the library/instructional technology?
- touch screen computers are cool
- IM/chat services sound cool, but don’t know that much about it

(students not sure what technology is out there, but are very open to trying new things that might be fun or useful)

What do you like most/least?
- noise is a real problem, can be too noisy to study effectively
- would like to see the cell phone ban back in place
- noisy student assistants make it hard to approach them to quiet other patrons
- football study table is a problem – noisy, not studying, cell phones going off, very disruptive
- too many competing activities in one building – socializing interferes with quiet study, but quiet study doesn’t interfere with socializing, so socializing wins
- comment made was “is it a library or student center? It can’t be both”

- “I like the librarians”!
- The staff is really helpful and accessible
- Leisure reading collection is great
- The emails are fun

Do you have any advice for us?
- comment was made that other students have said the librarians are rude/mean.